Crystalrainbow
Well-Known Member
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- Thread starter Crystalrainbow
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slaz
Member
Welcome from another bander. This site can provide you with many answers to your questions, but like all groups of people you will get different answers to the same question, it is then for you to decide which are more relevant to you and your particular circumstances. If you can read through the many threads on here whether you think they apply to you or not and then formulate some specific questions I'm sure you will find the answers honest, supportive and heartfelt. Good luck x
SleeveGirl
New Member
Hiya, welcome to the forum 
top_kat
Well-Known Member
Thank u Top Kat
Tbh i have been lurking here for a few days and only joined because everyone seem so friendly and helpful.
Congrats on your great achievement too Hun would be so great to chat to a bander and a successful one too.
My consultant originally suggested a band which was great but now 2 years down the line and having been in and out of many group sessions i not sure anymore............. i have heard so many story's against the band my heads in a right whirl lol i have my first visit to see the surgeon 2 weeks ago and he says its up to me to decide band or bypass and he wont put me on the list until i decide!!!! so here i am hoping to get so further insight and am hoping for some good advise from others who have been there ...........
blessings crystal x
hi Crystal,
What is it that has made you unsure about the band? Is there anything you'd particularly like to know? Or have doubts over?
While I've had a good loss, I have yet to find restriction with my band and at nearly 13 months out have hit a difficult time in terms of my mindset. But it's a wonderful tool if you are prepared to put in a lot of effort and lots of willpower while you work to getting restriction.
I there's anything you wan to ask, I can promise you I will be very honest in my response. My option was the bands I was no prepared to ave anything else, but average weight loss is 50-60% of excess weight, I'm at almost 80% so far and still going down...it's not easy, it can be frustrating because I can eat what I want and at the same amount and quantity as I could pre band If i chose to. It doesn't stop you eating certain foods and I wholly relies on what you decide to put in... But I love my band even tho personally my focus has gone elsewhere due of taking time off for holiday where I put on 11lb!!!
LifesAJourney
Member
Welcome to the forum
Banderbird
Active Member
Good luck with whatever you choose!
By the way, I don't think band slippage is quite as common as it appears to be.
I think a bypass is pretty drastic as it's permanent, whereas a band isn't.
I don't get this. Surely if you can eat whatever you want and in the same quantity as before...it's not working! After more than a year I would expect it to have the effect I'd paid for, and be satisfied with smaller portions. If I wanted to be starving and miserable, I'd just go on a normal diet...
What is it that you love? I'd feel I'd wasted my money!!
By the way, I don't think band slippage is quite as common as it appears to be.
I think a bypass is pretty drastic as it's permanent, whereas a band isn't.
I don't get this. Surely if you can eat whatever you want and in the same quantity as before...it's not working! After more than a year I would expect it to have the effect I'd paid for, and be satisfied with smaller portions. If I wanted to be starving and miserable, I'd just go on a normal diet...
What is it that you love? I'd feel I'd wasted my money!!
sarahrob
New Member
Hello and welcome to the forum! There is a huge amount of information on here and a wealth of experience, but this is a very personal choice, so only you can decide what your best option is.
I was banded a month ago and I'm due to have my first fill this week. So far I've found the experience overwhelmingly positive x
I was banded a month ago and I'm due to have my first fill this week. So far I've found the experience overwhelmingly positive x
top_kat
Well-Known Member
I love my band because I've lost 10 stone, despite not having restriction!
So, yes, while I may not have the level of restriction for the band to be working as it should it is still working!
I am well aware that it has taken me a long time to find it and that I still haven't found restriction. I can eat what I did before, it doesn't mean that I do - hence why I have lost 10 stone!
As it is, I am happy that I have achieved what I have, with the band not being at its optimum because I know that I can lose weight, it is keeping it off, by which time I will then hopefully be at that point of finding that sweet spot which will help me during the last couple of stone I have to lose and then maintaining so I do not gain it all.
I am not starving and I am not miserable, what I am is 10 stone lighter, almost 9 dress sizes smaller and while my band doesn't take (as yet!) my hunger feelings away, I do love my band. It has helped me to focus, it has helped me to make healthy positive choices in my lifestyle. It has enabled me to find a more healthy attitude with food.
I am not "banned" from eating any food, but what my band has enabled me to do is deal with what was once, emotional eating. It has enabled me to work through what was once, compulsive eating and overeating. For me, it is a lifelong choice and change - I don't want over restriction as I am aware of the issues and I have never been in a rush with my fills, for me I wanted to be able to change a lot about my eating in terms of what I ate and how I ate. And while as yet the band hasn't kicked in restriction wise, its presence alone has helped with the focus and my making the positive changes to my life.
And while I still can put the food away, the knowledge that if I do, my pouch will stretch, the band could move or slip, and that I'd be wasting the £7500 I've paid.
So, with the losses I've achieved, the changes I've made I would say in all honesty it is working extremely well, even if as yet, I'm not at the optimum restriction. Which, isn't that uncommon - not everyone finds their level of restriction early on. Some people take many fills - which is why a lot of providers have the 2 year fill package in place as it can take a good while to get to the level of restriction. I think people assume it will stop them eating certain things, that its sheer presence and a bit of fluid in it will take away the hunger - it doesn't. Its a marathon and not a sprint with the band and I think a lot of people are not made aware that it can take a long while and many fills to get restriction, in the same way a lot of providers seem to omit really important information in terms of the changes needed. It isn't the answer, it is a tool, and for me I love it because it has been a tool that has focussed my choices, my weightloss and changed my life.
Everyone is individual and unique, what works for one, may not work for another, we see it in the stories of people having issues with their band. But I love my band in how it has changed my life, for one thing I feel alive and as if I am living for the first time in my life, which at 40 I see how many years I've wasted being so overweight. So yes, I love my band and while it may not as yet have kicked into its place of fully working, its been worth every wonderful penny!
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Dandelions
New Member
hi crystalrainbow and welcome to the forum.
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slaz
Member
Like Kat I have no restriction and can eat whatever I want and in any quantity I want but the fact is that most of the time I don't. I remember many years ago my two elderly aunts who had smoked all their lives decided to try hypnosis to help them stop. They went together and after they came out fromthe hypnotist they both said " well, that was a waste of money, he didn't even put me under!" However after 50 years of smoking neither of them touched another cigarette ever again.
I do feel that there is a psychological element to WLS, whether it is our previous experiences of failed diets or simply the cost in the case of private or the long difficult process of NHS that helps keep us on the straight and narrow but I think here is also a physical element that is perhaps more subtle than we expected. Having lost 6 stone since the end of January I am happy that my band is working as I know I couldn't have done this without.
I do feel that there is a psychological element to WLS, whether it is our previous experiences of failed diets or simply the cost in the case of private or the long difficult process of NHS that helps keep us on the straight and narrow but I think here is also a physical element that is perhaps more subtle than we expected. Having lost 6 stone since the end of January I am happy that my band is working as I know I couldn't have done this without.
flutterby1966
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the form crystalrainbow. You may find this helpful Weight Loss Surgery – The Top Weight Loss Site – Obesity Help ps I love my band too
Banderbird
Active Member
That's great that you've lost the weight anyway. It appears to have worked on a psychological level more than anything else but still, a loss is a loss!
I feel I have wasted too many years being overweight too, so I am going to see is as a major lifestyle change.
Thanks for the explanation, and best of luck to the OP as well.
